Me the International University Lecturer

Last September while perusing the cookies at Goodwill, the Western grocery store in Batumi, I heard something that I had not heard in a while: American English from people I did not know. I had to stop and listen to make sure I heard correctly. I did, and it was then that I met a couple from Las Vegas in Batumi with the Peace Corps, who just happen to visit Zion a lot. Because of that chance meeting, I am now: Charlotte Vaillancourt, international lecturer.

In December, Kathy of the PC couple asked if I might be interested in helping with the new travel and tourism management program at the Batumi Business School and Shota Rustaveli University on a volunteer basis. Sure? Why not? I initially thought I would simply be helping write curriculum and making suggestions for courses and course work. Teaching was not on my radar as I already did that 5 days a week. However, teaching soon became a part of it. Monday night was the first night of lectures for this new program, and I had the honor of giving the first lecture. This week I am speaking on Corporate Identity and branding; next week is PR and Marketing and the Basics of Tour Operations. Fun!

Despite not being nervous about public speaking, I was apprehensive about the lecture. This was the first time I had taught a university course that required translation. (When I taught classes for Church in Israel, they were translated, so it wasn’t the first time I had worked with a translator). I wondered if I could explain things in such a way that 1) the translator could understand and 2) could be translated in such a way that the students would understand. The evening went very well, I must say. I even got a “Kai gogo” (good girl) from the business school director. On Tuesday evening there was one topic that the translator had trouble with: recycling. Recycling doesn't exist in Georgia, a fact that pains me every time I get something in a glass or plastic bottle from a restaurant.

I enjoyed it thoroughly, and that lecture and experience made me realize something. Teaching at the university or college level is what I want to be doing. I think more than anything; however, I am still torn about if I want to continue pursuing English teaching or business/travel and tourism teaching. Both are big areas, which will need qualified teachers. Yesterday I began researching PhD programs; however, that is still a few years away. I need to save up enough money to pay for it in cash first, just like with my undergraduate and graduate degrees. There is a cool TESOL program in my beloved Israel that sounds good should I choose that route, and there are plenty of business programs worldwide. Whatever I decide to do, I want to do the program abroad. I regret not doing study abroad while I was an undergraduate student. If there was one reason to have taken out a student loan, it would have been for that and only that.